Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Plunge As Trump Escalates Tariff Threats-Alibaba, United Airlines, Netflix In Focus

U.S. stock futures fell on Tuesday following Friday’s declines. Futures of major benchmark indices were lower.

The stocks extended the negative momentum seen during the holiday break as President Donald Trump's threat to impose escalating tariffs on Europe over the Greenland dispute continued to roil global markets.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.28%, and the two-year bond was at 3.57%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 95% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in January.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket on Tuesday. The SPY was down 1.70% at $679.90, while the QQQ declined 2.08% to $608.15.

Stocks In Focus

BHP Group

• BHP Group Ltd. (NYSE:BHP) was 1.65% lower in premarket on Tuesday despite lifting copper production guidance after setting new operational records in copper and iron ore for the half year ended 31 December 2025.

• Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings shows that BHP maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long term, with a solid quality ranking.

Alibaba Group Holding

• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) dropped 2.35% after the Financial Times reported that TikTok owner ByteDance is launching an aggressive challenge to the company’s dominance in China's cloud market using deep discounts and AI-led tools.

• Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that BABA maintains a strong price trend over short, medium, and long term, with a robust growth ranking.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) declined 1.21% despite a Wall Street Journal report that the company is planning a massive expansion of its U.S. manufacturing footprint to mitigate geopolitical risks and satisfy a new trade deal with the Trump administration.

• It maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long term with a strong value ranking, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings.

United Airlines Holdings

• United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) was 2.26% lower as it is projected to post quarterly earnings of $2.94 per share on revenue of $15.40 billion after the closing bell.

• UAL maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms with a solid growth ranking, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings.

Netflix

• Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares rose 0.15% ahead of its earnings, scheduled to be released after the closing bell. Analysts expect it to post quarterly earnings of 55 cents per share on revenue of $11.97 billion

• NFLX maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms with a strong quality ranking, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings.

Cues From Last Session

Energy, industrials, and real estate stocks posted the biggest gains on the S&P 500 on Friday, while communication services and health care issues bucked the trend to close lower.

Insights From Analysts

Robin Brooks, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, warns that a “thoroughly alarming” rise in long-term government bond yields is being masked by falling short-term rates, signaling the potential start of a global debt crisis.

While investors focus on recession-driven rate cuts, Brooks argues that the underlying demand for government debt is fracturing. By stripping out short-term volatility, his analysis reveals that markets are increasingly reluctant to fund the post-COVID debt binge.

“The economics profession really has no idea at what level debt… becomes unsustainable,” Brooks notes, describing the current landscape as “very scary.”

The danger is most acute outside the US. Forward yields in Japan and the UK have reached “unprecedented” levels, while fiscal issues in France remind markets that Eurozone debt risks still “fester.” Even safe havens like Germany are seeing yield spikes.

Brooks concludes that while the US benefits from some safety inflows, it is being pulled upward by this global tide. The synchronized rise in borrowing costs across the G10, he writes, is “deeply alarming.”

Upcoming Economic Data

Here's what investors will be keeping an eye on this week.

• No data is scheduled to be released on Tuesday.
• On Wednesday, the delayed report of October’s construction spending, along with December’s pending home sales data, will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.
• On Thursday, initial jobless claims data for the week ending Jan. 17 and the first revision of the third-quarter’s GDP will be out by 8:30 a.m. November’s delayed report for personal income, spending, and PCE data will be announced by 10:00 a.m. ET.
• On Friday, S&P flash U.S. services and manufacturing PMI will be released by 9:45 a.m., and January’s final consumer sentiment data will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.

Commodities, Gold, Crypto And Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.10% to hover around $59.28 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 1.22% to hover around $4,735.87 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,737.45 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.95% lower at the 98.4500 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 2.28% lower at $90,898.68 per coin.

Asian markets closed lower on Tuesday, as China’s CSI 300, Japan's Nikkei 225, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, India’s Nifty 50, Australia's ASX 200, and South Korea's Kospi indices fell. European markets were also lower in early trade.

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